Mouse Guard: Fall 1152
by J1NX3R
Summary: The story of the Mouse Guard through the fall of 1152
1. Belly of the Beast

**Mouse Guard: Fall 1152**

Converted from Graphic Novel by J1NX3R

**Part 1: Belly of the Beast**

_The mice struggle to live safely and prosper among all of the world's harsh conditions and predators. Thus the Mouse Guard was formed._

_After persevering against a Weasel warlord in the Winter War of 1149, the territories are no longer troubled. True, the day to day dangers exist, but no longer are the Guard soldiers, instead the are escorts, pathfinders, weather-watchers, scouts, and bodyguards fo r the mice who live among the territories. Many skills are necessary to keep the borders safe. They must find new safeways and paths from village to village, lead shipments of goods from one town to another, and in case of attack, guard against all evil and harm to their territories._

"_Hail all those who are able,_

_any mouse can,_

_any mouse will,_

_but the Guard prevail."_

A lone, tan-furred mouse trudges along the forest floor, pulling a cart laden with grain.

"Let me tell ye about the Guard." He says, to no one in particular.

"We mice have little chance in this world, considering all the critters that eats us.

"We know to build our cities hidden and protected; deep within rock outcroppings, in tangled root, and beneath loamy soil, we survive."

The oldfur carefully works his cart down a stony slope, then continues.

"But how do live?" He muses. "Travel in the open between our towns is dangerous. The Guard has been in existence longer than our history. They are the trail blazers, the guides, escorts, and defenders of us."

He pulls his cart over roots and other obstacles while speaking.

"I sell grain from Rootwallow to Barkstone. I know the way and follow the paths I've known. The Guard is too necessary in other places to tour this oldfur around."

He sets the handles of his cart on the ground near a tree. "Just need to stop for a bit…" He says, and sits against the tree with a sigh, pulling his straw hat down over his eyes.

A short time later, a shadow falls across the resting mouse. "Eh, who's there?" He asks, lifting his hat.

He utters a surprised noise, and has no time for any other.

Some time later, three mice walk the same path.

"Gwendolyn said you would brief us once we were on the trail, Kenzie," Lieam, a young, redfurred guardmouse, pipes inquisitively, "So tell us, why have three of the Guard's finest been dispatched?"

"A mouse peddling grain took the path from Rootwallow to Barkstone alone." Kenzie, the tall, gray-furred leader of the patrol answers, "We need to find this missing grain mouse…Seems he never arrived at his destination."

Saxon, the third mouse in the party, snorts in contempt. "We won't at this rate," He complains, "It's still quite a ways to Barkstone and no sign of the lost fool yet."

Kenzie comes to a stop next to a large tree.

"We should be pressing on." Saxon urges.

"I agree," Kenzie replies, "But perhaps a view will tell us _where_ to press, eh?"

In a flash, Lieam scurries up the tree, soon reaching a perch that commands a view of much of the path.

"See anything up there, Redfur?" Kenzie calls.

Lieam searches the forest ahead, then calls down, "I see a cart!"

Shortly afterwards, the patrol reaches the cart, which is damaged and overturned.

Saxon, his sword drawn, leaps atop the cart and looks around for enemies.

"Hmmm…" Kenzie says pensively, "The grain is still heree…But no merchant…"

Kenzie looks around. "Could be a carnivore," He says, "Yet the area is free of blood."

"We are losing daylight." Comments Lieam.

"Can't find him in the dark," Kenzie agrees.

"We'll camp here," Saxon decides, "Lieam, you have first watch."

Dawn breaks, and the glare of the sun wakes Lieam from his sleep. He stretches and yawns, then notices that he is alone.

"Saxon?" He calls, "Kenzie?" Drawing his sword, he hurries down the path, catching up with the two other mice.

Kenzie motions for silence. "Saxon found some grain this way." He says quietly.

"And a path leading that way." Saxon adds.

The trio heads out along the path, but freeze when a sinister hiss fills the air all around them.

In a split second, a milk snake slithers out of the underbrush and slides around the group.

As it rears back to strike, Saxon swings his sword, dislodging one of the snake's teeth.

"Ha!" Saxon shouts.

Kenzie leaps atop the snake's head and drives the end of his staff into the serpent's skull, stunning it momentarily.

"I can't hold it!" He shouts, "We need to retreat!"

"There!" Shouts Lieam, pointing at a nearby tree, "Run!"

The three mice scurry across the open ground with the snake just behind them, and manage to slip into a knothole near the base of the tree.

Being too large to fit in the knothole, the snake slithers around the tree, hissing angrily.

"We'll wait for it to leave, and get the drop on it later." Kenzie says calmly.

"We could have killed it then." Growls Saxon.

"Have you lost your mind?" Lieam shouts, "There is no way we could have defeated that beast. Not now, _or_ later…"

Kenzie holds up a calming paw. "You forget," He says, "In Lockhaven there is a saying carved into the wall: It matters not _what_ you fight, but what you fight _for_."

Saxon, who had crawled out to the opening of the knothole, returns at this moment.

"Is it still there, Sax?" Kenzie asks.

"No sign of it anymore." Saxon reports.

"Aye, and we have a grain merchant to find." Lieam says, his mind still filled with Kenzie's words.

The mice climb out of the knothole, and Kenzie points out towards the open ground, where the snake had caught them.

"Those holes are where the path and grain led." He announces.

They hurry across the open ground with more care, and reach the first hole. Kenzie and Saxon peer into the hole while Lieam stands guard with drawn sword.

"The missing mouse?" he asks the other two, edging closer to the pit.

"No…" Saxon replies, "Offspring!!"

Saxon dives into the pit, swinging his sword.

"No Saxon, wait for me…" Kenzie shouts. "Lieam, keep lookout." He orders, then follows Saxon into the pit.

The sounds of slashing weapons and shrieking snake offspring fill the air as Lieam stands alone on the edge of the pit.

Casting about for danger, Lieam notices a scrap of a straw hat half-buried in the sand near another pit. He walks closer to investigate, and reaches the hole before he hears the soft "Hissssss" emanating from the hole. He peeks into the dark hole, then jumps back in surprise as the milk snake emerges angrily from its burrow to tower over the diminutive mouse.

Lieam's face sets in grim determination as the snake prepares to strike. All he can think of is the phrase Kenzie had told him.

The snake strikes, its open mouth flying at Lieam with blinding speed.

Lieam takes the best action he can. With a shout, he jumps at the snake, and, using its one remaining tooth as a handhold, stands in its mouth and drives his sword into the roof of its mouth, piercing its brain.

The snake dies instantly, and collapses onto the ground with a thud.

In the pit, Kenzie and Saxon suddenly stop hacking at the dead viper offspring around them. "Did you hear something?" Kenzie asks.

"Hang on, Lieam!" Saxon shouts as they climb out of the pit and run to the dead snake.

Working together, the two older mice work the snake's mouth open and pull on Lieam's legs.

"We turn around, and you're inside a snake." Saxon comments as they pull him free.

Lieam, fatigued from his fight, just sighs.

Next, the trio cuts the belly of the snake open.

"We found our missing merchant." Kenzie says gravely.

They bury the remains under a pile of stones, and place the merchant's straw hat on a stick as a grave marker, before continuing on their journey, with Lieam pulling the dead merchant mouse's cart.

"Did Rand ever kill a snake?" Saxon asks as they walk.

"No," Kenzie replies, "But he has saved your life more than once."

"Shouldn't we have buried him elsewhere?" Lieam wonders aloud, "What of his widow? Are we not headed to inform her?"

No-We are headed to Barkstone." Kenzie says quietly.

"Why?" asks Lieam.

"Our missing mouse was a traitor." Kenzie answers, holding up a parchment, "I found proof while searching the grain.

"I didn't tell you about it because I knew Saxon would have killed him if we found him alive."

Saxon's face darkens, and he grips the hilt of his sword until his paws go white.

Kenzie opens the parchment, revealing a detailed map of Lockhaven. "And I want to find out who he was giving our secrets to." He finishes solemnly.

End Part 1.

Coming soon: Part 2: Shadows Within


	2. Shadows Within

Part 2: Shadows Within

_While Kenzie, Saxon, & Lieam were tracking the path of the grain merchant, Gwendolyn, head of the Mouse Guard, has sent word to Sadie._

_Sadie, who once watched a shoreline region of the Mouse Territories, has been asked to make contact with another missing mouse, Guard member Conrad._

_There has been no outgoing communication with his dwelling "Calogero" and the Guard fear the worst…_

"_Send any mouse to do the job,_

_it may or may not be done._

_Ask the Guard to do the task,_

_even death cannot prevent_

_it from completion."_

Sadie, a brown-furred mouse in a plum colored cloak walks along the edge of a stream among the towering reeds, reading a message that was sent to her by Gwendolyn, the Matriarch of the Guard.

"_Sadie,_" It reads_, "Please travel to the northern shore post "Calogero._

_Stationed there is Conrad, but we have received no communication from him for over a season._

_G."_

Sadie follows the stream until she reaches a tiny leaf boat tied to a reed on shore.

Paddling the tiny vessel into the stream, she deftly maneuvers it through the quick waters, eventually reaching the mouth of the stream, where it opens into a large body of water.

"The Northern Shore." Sadie says to herself. In short order she drags her leaf boat to shore, hiding it among the tall grass.

She then makes her way across the sandy ground to a large stump surrounded by tall beach grass, where she uses her boat paddle as a lever to uncover a sealed knothole-The Guard's message drop for Calogero.

Peering inside, Sadie finds a pile of parchment scrolls bearing the Guard seal.

"All of the Guard's messages," Sadie muses, "Unread."

Closing the message drop, Sadie walks up the beach, and comes upon a set of pawprints.

She crouches down to look closer.

"These can't be Conrad's…No peg leg." She realizes. She follows the tracks along the beach, until she reaches a stand of tall grass. Pushing through the grass, she notices the tracks more clearly. "And they're leading away from…Calogero."

Sadie pushes through to the other side of the grass, and sees Calogero.

It is a round, three-level house made of stone, with a straw roof and windows all around.

The door hangs off its hinges.

Sadie carefully goes inside.

"Looks abandoned…" She mutters.

The inside is dark and unfurnished, but a map of the Mouse Territories is hung on the wall near the door. Sadie taps the point on the map labeled "Calogero" with her dagger.

"This is the right place." She says to herself.

There is a thump on the wooden floor behind her, and Sadie freezes as the point of a fishhook appears at her throat, held by an old grayfur.

"Speak, if yeh wish to keep yer life," A raspy voice behind her commands.

"I am Sadie, of the Guard. Gwendolyn sent me to find you." Sadie replies indignantly, "I order you to stand down!"

The hook drops, and the older mouse thumps over to the door, pulling it closed on damaged hinges. Conrad is an old mouse, his fur thin and gray, and he carries a fishhook both as a weapon and as a crutch to support his peg leg.

"Gwendolyn, eh? She must already know about the traitor." The oldfur rasps.

"Traitor?" Sadie says in surprise.

"I would recognize the voice." Conrad says woozily, "I had to make sure yeh weren't the…" Conrad collapses, wheezing out, "Traitor…"

It is much later, and dark, when Conrad wakes. He sits up and sees Sadie working at the fireplace, stacking wood on the crackling fire under a bubbling pot of soup.

"You were out for a few hours." Sadie says as he stirs. She scavenges a bowl from somewhere, and scoops it full. "Some soup will be good for you."

She hands Conrad the bowl, and he quickly begins devouring it. "Then you can tell me about this 'Traitor.'" She adds.

Conrad finishes his soup, and takes a glance around the dark room, lit only by the flames from the fireplace.

"About a season ago, I began to suspect somethin'-like somemouse was here when I wasn't…" He begins.

"I tucked myself away in the rafters up above." He points up at the high ceiling.

"Two mice came to Calogero: A small old merchant mouse with a straw hat, who pledged his services to the other, who I could never see, as he was always in the shadows." Conrad sighs. "They spoke of the dead."

"I wanted to know more about their plans before I abandoned my hiding spot, so I tied myself to a rafter and waited."

Conrad polishes off a second bowl of soup, and continues.

"One day, the merchant mouse was given a map, and the mouse in the shadow said: 'Lockhaven.'"

I tried to follow, but when you arrived, I didn't know if you might be the unseen mouse, so I had yeh speak," Conrad finishes his story, "See if I could recognize the voice."

Satisfied that the story is over, Sadie looks at the glowing embers that remain of the cooking fire.

She pulls her plum-colored cloak over herself and lays on the floor.

"We will leave for Lockhaven at first light." She decides. Conrad nods in assent, and lays down also, wrapping up in his own cloak.

Sadie wakes the next morning to a sliver of light shining on her face. Sitting up in surprise, she quickly move to Conrad's side and wakes him up.

"Conrad," She says, "It's mid-morning, and Clogero is still dark…"

The pair of mice move to the door, and push on it, but it refuses to move!

Sadie hurries to a window, but is unable to open that either.

"Something is blocking the window!" Sadie whispers.

"And the door." Conrad agrees. They hurry to another window, and are nearly blinded when the object blocking the window moves, allowing light to stream in.

Sadie and Conrad gaze out in surprise.

Crabs are crawling all over Calogero! The great crustacean beasts are skittering around and on top of the house, and are tearing at the door with their big claws.

With a crunch, the front door is torn free, and the crabs crowd closer, as if hoping that the mice would come out willingly.

"There is another way out." Conrad says, and points up the stairs. Sadie runs up the stairs, her knives drawn, and Conrad follows, his hook at the ready.

From the upper floor, Conrad breaks a hole in the straw roof, and boosts Sadie out before climbing out himself.

"We need to get to Lockhaven!" Sadie urges as they jump to the ground.

From all sides, the crabs close in, as if magnetically drawn to the mice.

"I don't think they will let us." Conrad says, nodding towards the crabs.

The crabs move in, and Conrad jumps forward to meet them, moving with a speed that belies his age and wooden leg. He drives the point of his hook into the soft tissue of the first crab's mouth,

dodging the snapping claws, and continues running under the crab to another. With an ease that displays years of experience, Conrad ties the end of his fishline to the second crab's back leg.

The second crab, which is scuttling after Sadie, pulls the line taut, flipping the first crab shell over claws onto its back.

Sadie charges another crab, throwing one of her knives and striking it on the hard shell between its eyes.

The crab, being a very dull, reflexive creature, turns and grabs at the knife as it falls to the ground.

Sadie appears suddenly underneath the crab and drives her knife up through a chink in the crab's shell. "Tricked ya!" She cheers.

However, her knife becomes trapped in the shell. "Grr, it's stuck!"

She notices her other knife caught in the crab's claw, and reaches for that one, but gets swept up as the crab thrashes around.

"Wha?" Sadie mutters, as she tries to recover the knife from the crab's claw. The crab snatches at her with its other claw, forcing her to dance around while hanging on for dear life.

Suddenly, the knife comes free, and begins to fall to the ground. "No!" Sadie shouts, whipping her tail out. She catches the knife with the tip of her tail, but in the process loses her grip, and is thrown clear of the crabs.

"I've got 'em Sadie!" Conrad yells. He is atop the crab that had held Sadie, and is wrenching on its eye stalks.

"Run!" He yells again as the crabs crawl over each other to reach him. He avoids the first few swipes, but is finally caught in the great, sharp claw of a crab.

"Take what you know to Lockhaven!" He shouts.

Sadie lies stunned on the ground where she landed, but sits up as Conrad shouts.

"Sadie, run! Tell Gwendolyn…" The rest of his words are cut off by a ragged Crack! as the crabs crush him in their claws, before fighting among themselves for the prize.

Sadie turns and flees, tears streaming from her face, leaving the crabs while they are occupied.

There is a Traitor, and she must warn Lockhaven!

While she runs, she looks back over her shoulder and murmurs, "Goodbye, brave friend."

Then she hurries along the paths deeper into the Mouse Territories.

TBC


End file.
